On Monday, 6/12, Seth Rogen and director Evan Goldberg discussed their latest movie, This Is The End, at the Apple SoHo Store in New York City.
Here are some of the highlights of their talk courtesy of one of our contributors, Denise.
– Seth and Evan said they loved Spaceballs growing up and they made their own spoof of the movie. They were also influenced by Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and Pulp Fiction. They liked these films because they combined scary scenes with comedy. Seth said if a threat is real is makes it funnier. He commented on the show Entourage and how awesome everything seemed on that show and he couldn’t get the humor in that.
– Seth talked about how “once you off Rihanna, all bets are off” and that anyone could die at any time (in This Is The End) which makes the stakes higher. They were also influenced by Rosemary’s Baby and The Mist in some scenes in the film.
– They said the percentage of what was written versus improve is about 50/50. Seth and Evan based some of the plot on their own friendship and how when Seth moved to LA and Evan stayed in Canada they had 2 groups of friends that didn’t necessarily get along and they felt stuck between the 2 groups.
– The only concern the studio had was that the actors playing themselves could come off as self-indulgent, even though they meant it to be self-referential and making fun of celebrity.
– The movie is based on a short they did in 2006 called Seth & Jay vs. The Apocalypse. They wanted This is the End to start off like a Seinfeld episode that spins into a crazy apocalypse. They wanted to explore guys petty emotions because they find that funny. They wanted to make a crazy movie anchored by a simple core that people can relate to.
– They then talked about Hollywood parties, since a big party is at the center of this film and Evan told a funny story about going to a party in the Hollywood Hills and seeing Paris Hilton alone in the kitchen and she ate a bunch of food real fast when she thought no one was watching! Seth talked about going to a party where the host was collecting all of the dirty glasses, but instead of putting them in the kitchen, he threw them off the balcony for no reason!
– Seth said they did research for the demons in the film and based it off of the Book of Revelations and heavy metal album art. Seth and Evan also wrote their own gospel music for the film, but found it didn’t work well.
Seth and Evan’s appearance at the Apple Store was part of Apple’s Meet The Filmmakers series. You can find their schedule of events at Apple.com. For a list of more than 50 other venues that regularly welcome celebrities in NYC, pick up our NYC Field Guide!
